Box Office Update 4/30-5/2: One, Two, Freddy’s Coming For You…

This last weekend of pre-season movies was easily won by the second coming of Freddy Krueger. That's right, the man with the glove of knives has been reinvented for the third time on the big screen and this iteration took the top spot by a wide margin. Produced through Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes and directed by Samuel Bayer, A Nightmare on Elm Street proved to be a solid film that has a good level of creep, a touch of camp, and makes Freddy scary again. Will everyone like it? Of course not; in the bigger scheme of things, I suspect I am in the minority of those who liked it. Still, it is a solid film that brings a new look to the character and I hope it finds an audience.

Coming in second place, continuing its fine run, is How to Train Your Dragon. The 3D animated feature is on the cusp of the double century mark. To think, when the release was still in the future I seriously considered skipping it based on the poor initial trailer. I am glad I went to see it. This is a fun movie and has a big heart as well.

Third place features a movie I am surprised to see still so high on the chart, Date Night. The Steve Carell/Tina Fey comedy is still chugging along. I am not disappointed to see this; while it is not a great film, it certainly is an enjoyable one.

The Back-Up Plan went from second to fourth in its sophomore frame. The Jennifer Lopez comedy opened to less than stellar reviews and does not seem destined to have a long run. I suspect that it will find a bigger audience when it hits home video in a few months.

The second of the week's new wide releases had a less than stellar opening, which likely signals a short run. Furry Vengeance is the latest family comedy to star Brendan Fraser and the trailers do not do it any favors. It looks like a television movie, and not a good one at that. Woodland critters put up a fight against a developer planning to tear down their homes.

The bottom half of the list does not have anything all that special, just last weeks releases slid down a little bit. Next week will probably not look all that different as there is only one new release opening wide. Mark it down now, Oceans will be the only title to drop off the list.

Iron Man 2 will open next weekend and is sure to have an absolute monster opening frame that I feel fairly certain will cross the $100 million mark. The superhero sequel looks like a winner so far with Robert Downey Jr. returning in the lead role and leading a cast that adds Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johannson, and Sam Rockwell to the fold for director Jon Favreau.

Two movies dropped off the list this week: The Last Song (11) and Alice in Wonderland (12).

This Week

Last Week

Title

Wknd Gross

Overall

Week in release

1

N

A Nightmare on Elm Street

$32,902,299

$32,902,299

1

2

1

How to Train Your Dragon

$10,614,289

$192,173,750

6

3

3

Date Night (2010)

$7,577,352

$73,604,361

4

4

2

The Back Up Plan

$7,255,762

$22,963,517

2

5

N

Furry Vengeance

$6,627,564

$6,627,564

1

6

4

The Losers

$5,888,471

$18,013,781

2

7

6

Clash of the Titans (2010)

$5,855,368

$153,911,073

5

8

5

Kick Ass

$4,515,940

$42,228,273

3

9

7

Death at a Funeral (2010)

$4,123,105

$34,900,278

3

10

8

Oceans

$2,564,843

$13,460,115

2

Box Office Predictions Recap

Looking at my list and the actual list I feel a little bit embarrassed. You see, I completely forgot to slot in The Losers. I have noticed this happen a few times over the years — somehow I space on a recently released film and forget to put it in my prediction grid. If I had done so I would have been a lot closer to getting the whole thing right. As it stands, I feel I still did pretty good and I am glad to see I overestimated Furry Vengeance. In the end, it does not matter how well these movies did this week, they will all be eaten alive by Iron Man 2 next week.